Recent patents disclose the use of lasers for alignment purposes in various applications. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,096 discloses a line-laser assisted alignment apparatus for a drill bit, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,111 discloses a light beam locator and guide for a biopsy needle.
As the use of lasers in commonly used power tools increases, there is a need for providing an optical alignment system that is compact, cost-effective and user friendly.